George Allen (American politician)

George Allen
Junior Senator, Virginia
In office January 2001–Present
Preceded by	Charles Robb
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2007)
Personal details
Nationality	american
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Susan Brown Allen

George Felix Allen (born March 8, 1952) is a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia. He has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2008.

Early years

Allen was born in Whittier, California. His father George Herbert Allen was a legendary NFL coach who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Allen received a B.A. degree in history and then a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia.

Pre-Governor career

Allen was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1983 to 1991. On November 5, 1991, he won a special election to fill the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that had been left vacant by the resignation of D. Frank Slaughter, Jr., and he held the seat from then until January 3, 1993.

Governor

In 1993 Allen was elected Governor. He served as the 67th Governor of Virginia from 1994 to 1998. As governor, he was recognized for educational improvements such as the implementation of rigorous academic standards and accountability. His tenure also included the overhaul of the juvenile justice system, work-oriented welfare reform and the abolition of parole for felons. Virginia, especially Northern Virginia, boomed during this time period, particularly in the technology area. Allen has been criticized by liberal groups for alleged insensitivity to racial problems during his term. In 1997, he proclaimed April as Confederate History and Heritage Month and called the Civil War "a four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights." [1]

Allen could not run for re-election because Virginia's term limits law allows governors to serve only one term consecutively. [2]

United States Senate

Allen was elected to the Senate in 2000, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Charles Robb, son-in-law of the late President Lyndon B. Johnson. He is a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee and the Energy Committee.

Allen was appointed in the last Congress to serve as the chairman of the High Tech Task Force. Allen was unanimously elected a member of the Senate Republican leadership as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002, and oversaw a net gain of four seats for the Republicans in the 2004 Senate elections. His successor as NRSC chair is Senator Elizabeth Dole.

In June of 2005, Allen co-sponsored a resolution that had the Senate formally apologize for never passing federal legislation to stop the lynching of nearly 5,000 people between 1882 and 1968. While spearheading this apology, Allen stood in the Senate and said, "I rise today to offer a formal and heartfelt apology to all the victims of lynching in our history, and for the failure of the United States Senate to take action when action was most needed."

Future prospects

Allen's current term in the Senate expires in January 2007. He is expected to seek re-election in 2006.

In a survey of 175 Washington insiders conducted by National Journal's "The Hotline" and released April 29, 2005, Allen was the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the 2008 Presidential election. [3] A few days later, Allen held fundraising events in New Hampshire, the state with the important first presidential primary, although his campaign manager said that the trip was solely to raise money for Allen's 2006 re-election campaign. [4]

Allen's prominence in the speculation about 2008 has led to increased scrutiny of his decisions. On May 1, 2005, soon after the National Journal survey appeared, the Rev. Pat Robertson, appearing ABC television, attacked an "out-of-control judiciary" as being a greater threat than Nazi Germany was or than Al Qaeda is today. As a result, Allen was criticized by the National Jewish Democratic Council and other Democrats for agreeing to speak at Robertson's Regent University. [5]

Allen came under harsh criticism from many conservatives when on June 15, 2004 he voted for an amendment to include sexual orientation as a protected category in federal hate crime legislation. [6] [7] This criticism was renewed in October 2005 when a conservative Christian organization alleged that Allen's vote broke a promise which he made in a letter written on October 27, 2000. [8]

Allen has been mentioned by Rush Limbaugh on numerous occasions, most notably on Hannity & Colmes, as being the Republican presidential hopeful most likely to follow in the conservative mantle of Ronald Reagan. [9]

Personal

Allen and his wife, Susan, reside in Mount Vernon, Virginia with their three children: Tyler, Forrest, and Brooke.

Allen is extremely fond of using football metaphors, a tendency which has been remarked upon by journalists and commentators. [10] [11]

Allen is multi-ethnic: his mother was Arab-French, and his father was Dutch-Irish as well as Scottish.

External links

• Official site
• Campaign site
• Politics1 - P2008: George Allen
• 2004 campaign finance data
• Sen. George Allen - 2008 Presidential Wire
• George Allen on the Issues